On Monday, April 15th, two homemade bombs were set off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three civilians and injuring almost 200 more. While many have brought up the media’s inactivity during Bush’s push to wage war on Iraq as to the reason the country “is in the mess we’re in over in Iraq and Afghanistan”, none can utter the words “inactive media” when describing the Boston Marathon tragedy. Within a couple of hours, the Boston PD had already begun reviewing and dissecting the footage that was taken from one of the news affiliates that had the best vantage point. By nightfall, the “feebs”/FBI’s best in Quantico had been called to Boston in order to help expedite the search for a legitimate suspect(s). In a press conference that the Boston PD’s chief spoke at, he urged every individual that had footage on their camera phones to send the videos to the police; any help, the chief implied, could be extremely crucial.
As I write this, FBI and other government agencies are searching for a man they have identified as a possible suspect (one of the videos showed him leaving a black bag at the scene; his name has not been released since the authorities have not put a name to his face), and are relentlessly pursuing this suspect.
Such quick developments/progress may not have been achieved were it not for the countless media cameras that were posted all around the Boston Marathon’s finish line, documenting one of the “last great traditions” the city of Boston still has. This tragedy, as sad as it is to say, could not have been predicted by anyone, and that much is clear. What the victims can be assured of, however, is that this craven individual will be brought to justice swiftly with the help of media outlets nationwide. In a time of great tragedy and crisis, people set aside their differences in order to achieve a shared goal; in this case, it’s a single word: Justice.